Follow-up index or filing system



S. W. McKEE.

FOLLOW-UP INDEX OR FILING SYSTEM.

AP PLICATION FILED MAR 27. I919.

Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

Q iuve/nibi WWW:

4 3 d x 927 J I 5 m Z 9 g 5 FM T/4. i r 5 M M 6 1 m y A, K 5 w m i. 5 Aj 9 w w 1, ,2 WWW S. W. McKEE,

FOLLOW-UP INDEX 0R FILING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27. 1919.

1,369,255. Patented Feb.22,1921.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

refs

srIrLMAN w. McKEE, or Los ANGELES, CALIFQRNIA.

FOLLOW-UP INDEX OR FILING SYSTEM.-

To all whom it may concern:

This invention relates to filing systems in which anindex is employed sothat the various cards or other papers filed away for future referencecan be readily found when it is desired to refer to them.

It will be understood in this specificatio that the term index charactersignifies any suitable character employed as a guide for arrangement ofthe various elements of the system, and that said index characters maybe letters of the alphabet forming an alphabeticalyindex, figuresforming a nu-- merical index, figures representing dates for an index bydates or any other arrangement of figures for any purpose whatsoever. Itis also understood that the. letters and figures may be arranged invarious combinations, if desired.

An object of the invention is to make it possible toquickly file andsubsequently re-' fer to any particular card or paper desired.

This system relates more particularly to follow up index or filingsystems, under whichsystem matter is filed in accordance with indexcharacters,-alphabetically, nu-

merically or by days of themonth, or by combinations of the alphabet anddates. As

suming that matter has been filed away under a given index and that itis desired to refer to the same on a given date, under the old filingsystems it is difficult to findthe matter desired. By this system mattermay be filed under a suitableindex character and it is so arranged thatwhen the tray or other holder for the matter is open to expose to viewthe contents thereof any particular matter. which it is desired toabstract from-the file, can be readily seen without leafing over, one byone, a large number of the cards in I the filing tray or other" holder.

Another object is to make provisionfor" shifting the sub guide membersto different positions transversely of the holder so that they canreadily be rearranged alphabetically,numerically, or otherwise when itis desired to insert another sub guide member or abstract one or more ofthe sub guide members from the holder.

Specification -.of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

Application filed' March 27, 1919. Serial No. 285,466.

Other objects and advantages will appear 'in the subjoined detaileddescription.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention Figure 1 isa'perspective view of an index system constructed in accordance with theprovisions of this invention, portions of the holder being broken awayto contract the view;

Fig. 2'is a front elevation of Fig. 1, the front of the holder beingbroken away so as to expose to view the lower portion of'the foremostseries of sub-guide members.

Fig. 3 is a plan section on line indicated by w -w Fig. 2, the rear endof the tray being broken away to contract the view;

Fig. 4 isa sectional elevation on line indicated by w w*, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of. one of the main guide members;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the throwing or separatin membersfor separating two adj acentseries of sub guide members from one anotherand for throwing all of the sub guide members of one seriessimultaneously v F g. 7 is a plan view of the holder;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the sub guide members;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a different form of sub guide memberthan that shown I in Fig. 8;

Fi 10 is a front .view of a sub guide memfier and alining members 'ofslightly different construction than those. shown in Figs. 8 and 9, thebottom of the tray also being shown in section. I

There is provided a. holder 1 of any suitable construction "and in thisinstance in the form of a tray or drawer,- and the bottom 2 of the trayis provided longitudinally thereof with grooves 3 in which are seatedalining members which may be in the form of flat strips 4, as in Fig. 2or. wedge-shaped .in cross section as shown at 4' in Fig. 10.

Main guide members 5 are provided, said guide members having upwardlyprojecting tabs 6 on which are placed suitable main index characters 7.In the instance shown in the drawings these main index characters 7 are.letters of the alphabet, but it is under-. stood that any other indexcharacters may be employed in lieu of said letters. The mainguide member5, is provided in its lower edge with a series of notches 8 so spaced asto'respectively receive the alining members 4 when the main guidemembers are placed on edge in the tray as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Between adjacent main guide members 5 are inserted one or more series ofsub guide members, one form of which is clearly shown at 9 in Fig. 8 ofthe drawings and another form of which is shown at 9' in Fig. 9 or 9, asthe case may be. The sub guide member 9 is provided with an up wardlyprojecting tab 10 at its upper edge and said tab or the space beneath itcontains a sub guide character 11 which may be a numeral, a letter,names or any other suitable indexing terms. In the instance shown inFigs. 8 and 9 the character 11 is the proper name Barr. The sub guidemember 9 is provided in its lower edge with notches 12 so spaced as toreceive the alining members 4 when the sub guide cards are positionededgewise in the tray. Whereas the main guide members 5 may or may notextend substantially thefull width of the tray, the sub guide cards 9are much shorter than the width of the tray and it is therefore obviousthat each of the sub guide cards can be selectively placed in any one ofa number of different positions transversely of the tray, the number ofsuch positions depending, ofcourse, upon the length of the sub guidemembers-and the width of the .tray. The sub guide members 9 are arrangedin any desired number of series. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 each series of subguide members comprises ten sub guide members.

The sub guide members 9 of any given series may be placed edge to edgeor ma overlap one another as clearly shown in 3. At least one of thenotches 12 of each sub guide member excepting the end ones of eachseries engages one of the alining members 4. For example when a sub gude member '9 is placed a slight distance from the left or right sidesof'the tray, but oneof the notches l2 engages'the left or right aliningmember, as the case may be. If the sub guide member 9 be placed mid-waybetween the sides of the tray, all of the notches 12 will be engagedwith the same number of alining members 4. Five alining members areshown in Figs. 2, 3 and 7, but it is clear that more or less than thisnumber may be employed if desired. From the foregoing it is clear thatthealining members 4 and notches 12 prevent the sub guide members 9 frombecoming accidentally displaced transversely of the tray after said subguide members have been placed inposition.

It is clear that where the main guide members occur they function asseparating or throwing members between two adjacent series of sub guidemembers 9', so as to separate the adjacent series from one another andso that when moved-against a series of sub guide members, all of the subguide are of the form shown in Fig. 8.

. members 9 between any two adjacent main guide members 5, there may beemployed between said series a separating or throwing member 13 one ofwhich is clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The separating members13 are each provided with one or more tabs 14 projecting upwardly at theupper edges thereof so that a person using the index can readilymanipulate the separating members to throw an entire series of adjacentsub guide members by placing his finger on the tab 14 and throwing thesame toward him. The same manipulation of the main guide members 5 bythe finger produces the same results. The members 13 are provided Iyyithnotches 15 to engage the alining memers 4.

form of a card on which may be written any desired data or information.In Fig. 9 the sub guide member 9 is in the form of a folder or envelopin which may be placed letters or other papers which it is desired tofile under this system. This envelop or folder may beopen at the endsbut is preferably closed, or at least partly closed at the ends as shownto prevent the papers contained therein from being accidentallydisplaced endwise from the folder.

The system operates as follows: Assuming, for example, that the mainguide characters 7 are lettersof the alphabet, and that the main guidemembers are arranged in alphabetical order, sub guide characters 11, forexample, proper names, will be placed on or below the tabs 10 of the subguide cards 9 and whatever other data desired will be written on saidsub guide members if they If the sub guide members are in the form offolders or envelops as shown in Fig. 9 letters or other papers may befiled in said folders or envelops. The sub guide members will then beinserted in the holder in alphabetical order in front or rear of theappropriate main guide members in accordance with the initial letter ofthe name, and also alphabetically in series from left' to right or rightto left in accordance with the other letters of. the

names. When the sub guide members are thus in order in the holder thenames on all of the sub guide members of any given series are exposed toView by merely throwing forward the main guide member or the. throwingmember which happens to be in front of said series.

If the user of the system desires to refer to and remove a sub guidemember containing a particular name, it is clear that by glancing alongthe series of sub guide cards he will readily see the member wanted andcan then extract that particular member from the file without disturbingany of the other sub guide members. When. it is thus extracted a vacancyis left in the series of sub guide tabs, thusenabling the user to noteexactly where to insert the sub guide member in returning said member tothe file. If the sub guide member thus extracted from the file is toremain permanently out of the file, the sub guide members following inalphabetical order the removed member can readily be rearranged to fillthe vacancy by simply shifting them to the left, in this instance, adistance equal to the space between the notches 12. If it is desired toinsert a sub guide member in alphabetical order as one of a completedseries of sub guide members the appropriate sub guide member intheseries and the others to the right thereof will be shifted to the righta distance corresponding to the spacing of the notches 12, with theexception of the one at the extreme right which will be shifted to firstplace at the left in the next succeeding series of sub guide members andso on.

When several series of sub guide members are interposed between twoadjacent main guide members, throwing members 13 may be inserted betweenthe adjacent series of sub guide members, and the operator in huntingfor any particular name on the sub guide members will then be enabled tothrow forward an entire series of the sub guide members by placing hisfinger on the tab 14 of the throwing member 13 and pulling said tabtoward him, thus spacing the series of sub guide members in front of thethrowing member 13 from the series of sub guide members rearwardly ofthe throwing memher.

If desired, the sub guide members 9 may be provided with vertical marksor lines 16, as clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9, alining with one of thenotches 12 so that when the operator is inserting a sub guide member inthe file he can cause the left hand edge of the sub guide member whichhe is inserting to register with the line 16 of the sub guide memberimmediately rearward of the one being inserted in order that the notches12 of the member which he is inserting will properly aline with thealining members 4 to permit the inserted memberslipping time consumingoperation.

By this improved system it is clear that the colored sub guide membersare always in-position to be readily seen without disturbing any of themembers of the file, thus enabling members of any particular color orcolors to be quickly extracted from the file when it is desired toutilize the data on the colored members.

Various advantages of'the above described system-may be set forth asfollows: Each sub guide member. of each series is offset from everyother sub guide memberof the same series and thus exposes all or part ofthe name or other desired data on such member.

'Drawers of sufficient width to. hold the overlapping sub guide memberswill be less accessible, no matter what the nature of said data is,since the data may be arranged alphabetically, numerically,chronologically. by subject, name of article, name of person and so onas may be'desired, the different heads, under which the matter is filed;on the various sub guide members all being exposed to view at all timesand the sub guide members all being shiftable to the right or left anydesired number of steps to retain the order of filing when some of the.sub guide members are permanently removed'or others inserted.

Fewer alphabetical or other main guide members are required with thissystem than with prior systems for the reasonethat the sub guide card ateither end of a series thereof will function as a guide for the eye sothat the eye will read the end sub guide member of-each series as eachseries is thrown forward, thus enabling one to quickly locate the seriesin which the information will be found.

In many cases the full name, address and other important briefinformation can be so placed on the sub guide members as to be exposedto view for each series as the series are separated from one another.

In the instance shown in the drawings each series of sub guide members,excepting the last one between any two main guide members is completeand contains ten members'. In each incomplete series the last sub guidemember may be a dummy card and left blank or may be of a particularcolor so as to denote that the series ends with the dummy or coloredcard and indicates that none are missing to the left of said dummy orcolored card. From this it is clear that when the sub guide membersoverlap one another as in the drawings, if any fact is observablebecause Q? the space exfive inches by eight inches.

the cards requires more area than. is con'-.

is'tingfwhere the tab of the missing sub guide member should be. I

Heretofore the different manufacturers of filing cabinets and .cardsystems have standardizecl the sizes of the cards, said cards being madeat present in sizes three inches by five inches, four inches by sixinches and If a user of tained in one of the cardshe 11111 1; take thenext larger size thus entailing a different height and width of draweror tray for holding the larger card. With this improved system thelength or width of the card may be increased and such longer card can beaccommodated in the same size tray or drawer ascontains the shortercards. Thus cards of different lengths or widths may be employedtogether in the same tray or drawer in this system, the card selectedfor anygiven data being of suflicient length to receive all of saiddata.

In Fig. 10 the notches 12 of the sub guide members are triangular inshape to fit the triangular shaped alining members, the advantage ofthis construction being that it allows some variation betweenthe spacingof the notches and spacing of the alining members and yet allowsj thenotches to be engaged by the alining members sufficiently to preventendwise displacement of the sub guide members. y

In practice the series of sub guide members will preferably be leftincomplete and whatever additional sub guide members are added may bepositioned to start new series;

in other words if each series when complete contamsten sub ide membersonly seven for example, may e placed in each series, at

the beginning, so that later on when it is places their absence .willbeobservable because of the blank space on the next rearward sub guidemember appearing between the character 11 of said next rearward memberand the character -11 of the adjacent sub guide member on the otherside.

The usual means, such as a follower block, may be employed to hold themembers 5, 9, 13 in upright positions regardless of the number of saidmembers contained in the tray.

The sub guide members may overlap one another from right to left orfromleft to right, and the alphabetical or other order of arrangement of thecharacters 11 of the members of each series may be from right to left orfrom left to right. I

I claim:

1. In a follow-up index or filing system, a

of the said members are missing from their holder, main guide members inthe holder,

sub guide members arranged in a 'plurality of series between adjacentmain guide members, throwing members between adjacent series ofsub-guide members, the sub guide members of each series being of lesslength than the width ofthe holder, and means in the holder shiftablyengaged by the sub guide members'to prevent accidental end wisedisplacement of said members.

2. In a follow-up index or filing system, a holder, alining membersextendin longitudinally of the holder, and sub gui e members in theholder provided with a plurality of notches in their lower edges toselectively receive one or more of the alining members, the subguidemembers being arranged transversely in successive series andthe-sub guideme'mbers being of less length thanthe width of the holder,there being amark on each of the sub-guide members in alinement with oneof the notches therein adapted to register with-one end of the sub-guidemember immediately in front thereof.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, this 21stday of March, 1919.

' STILLMAN W. McKEE. Witnesses:

'- GEORGE H. HILEs,

L. BELLE WEAVER.

